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Tibetan Inscriptions on Ancient Silver and Gold Vessels and Artefacts

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Tibetan Inscriptions on Ancient Silver and Gold Vessels and Artefacts Tibetan Inscriptions on Ancient silver and gold Vessels and Artefacts Amy Heller Prior to 1970, only two ancient silver artefacts discovered in Lhasa were known to scholars. These objects, each of exceptional quality and refined workmanship, were the sole tangible artefacts reflecting literary and historical records from the period of the Spu rgyal dynasty (7th- mid-9th century). Records from this time repeatedly describe silver and gold objects from Tibet, many shaped like animals or birds.1 The first of these earlier known artefacts, a Greco-Bactrian silver bowl decorated with fishes, trees and human figures, had been treasured as a family heirloom since generations by Lhasa aristocrats, and presented to Professsor David Snellgrove after 1950 (Snellgrove & Richardson 1968: 50-51, 256; Denwood 1973: 121-127). The second, observed in-situ in Lhasa by Hugh Richardson, was described as "a round-bellied silver wine jar with a long neck surmounted by a stylized horse's head", had been re-dedicated in 1946 according to its inscription, and was "...reputed to go back to the times of the chos rgyal" (Richardson 1998[1963]: 228, 1977[1998]: 254).2 Indeed, deploring the lack of such Tibetan artefacts, the Tang historian Edward Schafer wrote in 1963: Though Iran may have been the ultimate source of the art of beating golden vessels and the ultimate inspiration of many of the designs worked on them by the artisans of the Tang, it appears that Tibet must also be given an important place among the nations whose craftsmen contributed to the culture of Tang. To judge by records of tribute and gifts from Tibet to Tang, which over and over again list large objects of gold, remarkable for their beauty and rarity and 1 A silver saddle, gold hair ornaments, a stone lion sculpture and some garments were found in caves near the Dulan tombs ca. 1930; these artefacts were first described, but not photographed, nor collected, by Filchner (1938: 102-103). In 1902-1906, Grünwedel made a line drawing of a mural painting in the Idikut Palace where ancient ewers and flasks, all probably manufactured in silver, were represented with Uighur aristocrats (cf. Grünwedel 1912: 334, fig. 665 and see below, figure 3) 2 Richardson did not mention that the ewer was partially gilded (cf. Heller 2002, 2003). 260 Amy Heller excellent workmanship, the Tibetan goldsmiths were the wonder of the medieval world. Let us...hope that future archaeologists will discover actual examples of Tibetan or Tibetan-inspired Tang goldwork in the soil of China. (Schafer 1963: 253-254) In the past twenty years, systematic archaeological investigations of Tibetan tombs and chance finds have yielded a range of jewellery, vessels and artefacts in gold and silver, both cast and repoussé, as well as silk textiles with similar design motifs. The workmanship of these artefacts spans across Central Asia from Sogdiana to Tibet to China, a reflection of the complex dynamics of extensive commercial and cultural exchange during the expansion of the Tibetan empire along the vast network of the Silk Routes. The easily portable nature of such artefacts renders their provenance virtually impossible to determine in the majority of cases. While their manufacture may have occurred in one region, they were easily transported and used in other regions, and offered as tribute in yet other regions still.3 Even so, during the Spu rgyal dynasty, Tibetan usage of such articles is documented in mural paintings at Dunhuang which portray the btsan po Tibetan Emperor raising a silver cup with small handle and lotus base towards one of his attendants, (see figure 1, detail of the btsan po and his silver cup, Dunhuang cave 159, ca. 800-825 C.E.). Other excavated painted coffin panels depict scenes of banquets where Tibetan women and men adorned with turquoise and gold jewelry, hold silver cups, ewers and platters (Tong & Wertmann 2010; Heller, in press). Lamellar armour is worn by warriors and horses painted on these coffins which also portray mounted archers aiming at their prey, their quivers and bow-cases visible on the flank of their horses as they engage in the ritual hunt of yak and deer.4 Archaeological excavations of tombs of the Spu rgyal dynasty have revealed fragmentary silver sword handles as well 3 Due to repeated plunder of the tombs over time, it is problematic to establish accurate stratification of the tombs during the recent excavations; one must also bear in mind the long history of the commercial networks along the Silk Routes, and their modern version, i.e. the antiquities trade which account for the broad dispersal of artefacts. 4 The leather backing of a segment of silver lamellar armour in the collection of Robert Tsao, Taipai, has been subjected to radiocarbon analysis, yielding a chronology of mid-seventh to mid-eighth century.. I thank Robert Tsao for communicating to me this radiocarbon calibration report and authorizing publication of this analysis by Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, National Isotope Centre, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science, New Zealand 23.11.2006: Conventional radiocarbon age 1319 +/- 25 years; calibrated age in terms of confidence intervals: 2 sigma interval is 655 AD to 718 AD (1295 BP to 1232 BP, 74% of area) plus 743 AD to 769 AD ( 1207 BP to 1181 BP, 19% of area) 1 sigma interval is 663 AD to 687 AC (1287 BP to 1263 BP, 47.3% of area). JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BON RESEARCH Volume 1 Inaugural Issue (2013) Tibetan Inscriptions on Ancient silver and gold 261 Vessels and Artefacts as other Tibetan accoutrements for war or hunting such as armour and horse trappings made of iron, lacquered leather, silver and gold.5 Figure 1. Dunhuang cave 159, btsan po holding silver cup We will study here a few examples of such artefacts in silver and gold - one gold cup, two silver cups, two platters, a flask, a belt buckle, a personal seal and a segment of 5 Xu Xinguo, former Director of Qinghai Archaeological Institute has published numerous articles describing the architecture of the mid-8th century tombs at Dulan, their excavations and artefacts, with meticulous drawings. See translations of his articles by Bruce Doar (1996) and Xu (2006). For photographs of the silver sword handle (width 4.6 cm x 2.2 thick) and parcel gilt-silver knife handle excavated near the principal tomb at Dulan, see Tibetan Tombs at Dulan, Beijing University and Qinghai Archeological Institute, 2004: 99 DRN M1:14 (plate 9) and 99 DRN M3: 6 (plate 23). Twenty-one segments (2.5 x 2. 1 x 0.4 thick) of small hammered gold sheet rectangular plaques, probably for lamellar armour, were also excavated, of which similar artefacts are illustrated in ibid 2004: 99 DRNM3:1, 99 DRN M3:2 (plate 23). JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR BON RESEARCH Volume 1 Inaugural Issue (2013) 262 Amy Heller a bow case - all of which bear inscriptions in Tibetan language.6 The interpretation of these inscriptions remains problematic due to the paucity of examples. While four have been previously published, it is useful to re-assess their content in the light of subsequent research.7 Comparisons with contemporaneous inscribed stone stele in central and western Tibet and Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang and Mazar Tagh indicate that the inscriptions on these silver and gold artefacts conform to the Old Tibetan conventions of punctuation and spelling as well as morphology of certain letters (cf. Dalton et al. 2007). It appears that the inscriptions consist primarily of names of people, some of whom may belong to clans named in the stone stele and manuscripts. The individuals' names are sometimes complemented by phrases indicative of the weight of the artefact as well as phrases which may relate to their functional usage in a funerary or ritual context.8 In addition to the Tibetan names and words, sometimes the inscriptions comprise patterns of non-decorative lines and circles found on the base of the artefacts. Comparison with similar inscriptions on contemporaneous Sogdian silver bowls indicates that these marks may refer to the weight of the object. 9 The historical context. Before examining these artefacts and their Tibetan inscriptions, a brief review of their historical context is warranted to understand how such objects were described in contemporaneous literary sources. 6 It is important to note that at present, very few archeological artefacts inscribed in Tibetan are known. In addition to the artefacts with inscriptions studied here, there are a few seal imprints among the Dunhuang and Mazar Tagh Tibetan manuscripts, but the actual seals have not been discovered. The repeated plunder of tombs over the centuries and the fragmentary nature of many artefacts may account for the lack of inscribed artefacts; were systematic, stratigraphic excavations to be undertaken, perhaps more inscribed artefacts would be recovered. 7 For the inscription on the silver cup now in Cleveland Museum of Art see Czuma (1993), Carter (1998). For the platter in Miho Museum see Marshak (1996: 80-83); Heller (2002) for the Cleveland silver cup (fig 34); the silver cup of Metropolitan Museum (fig 42) and the vase now in the Pritzker collection (fig 35); for further research on this vase see Heller (2003: 55-64, figs . 16a-16d). 8 Such as the inscription written on a textile which indicates its placement in a burial chamber ( spur khang nang dzong, "treasure of the chamber of the corpse". This silk samit textile is now conserved in the Abegg Foundation, Riggisberg, Switzerland (Heller 1998a). 9 Characteristic inscriptions on Sogdian silver bowls include Sogdian personal names, for which no satisfactory etymology, as well as meaningful marks such as incised parallel lines which appear to indicate units of some kind of weight measure.
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